Phoenix Tiger Moth 88 inch

[Chris Freeman 3]

Over the years I have always wanted a Tiger Moth as it is to me one of those iconic must have aircraft. We have quite a number of full size aircraft flying in South Africa and my late father told me that as a teenager in the 50's he could not understand why his mother would not let him buy one and keep it in the Garden as the Airforce was selling them dirt cheap! I saw an add for Phoenix airframe that was built but never flown at a 1/3 of the price of the kit and it included new servo's. I jumped at the change and paid the money and went to collect the airframe. The seller said he had had the kit assembled by a professional builder but a change in interest resulted in the project never being finished. He also suggested I check all work done.

 

The airframe looked very good, well made and covered so I was very happy with my purchase. The undercarriage looked strange with small wheels and lots of fairings on the legs, an easy fix as the undercarriage was bolted together so the fairings could be removed. I got a bit nervous when I saw that epoxy had been used to glue in the cyno hinges! Whilst checking the aileron servos I found that the servos had been mounted with the 4  screws and brass ferrules but no rubber grommets had been used. I had grommets so corrected this. No manual came with the airframe so I stared to see what info was available in Google. I saw that a DLE 30 was recommended but the factory video showed that this was excessive. I decided that the ST 2000 I had in the cupboard would do the job.

 

 The airframe was finished and looked very pretty, My son cut new stickers as the kit ones were missing. We went out early one morning to test fly and the ST started easily and was running well with the 18x6 propellor. Take off was brisk with little trim needed other than some up elevator. The aircraft flew well despite the wind that was a little stronger than ideal. Take offs and landings are easy and most flying done around 1/2 throttle. We decided the CG was a little forward and a larger prop could be used to load the engine a little as it was revving a little higher than than what you would expect from a Tiger Moth.  

 

When I got home I added 100 grams of lead to the rear fuselage and changed the prop to a 20 x 6 and the next outing showed this was just right. I am very happy with this aircraft and engine combination and look forward to lots of flying with it. The Sparrow Hawk is the seagull 60cc kit that has a ST3000 which flies it exceptionally well. The undercarriage and spats were shortened as it looked like it was on stilts. 

 

 

[Jon H]

1 hour ago, Chris Freeman 3 said:

I saw that a DLE 30 was recommended but the factory video showed that this was excessive

 

Yep. I see 30's biplanes doing Pitts impressions all the time and its just naff. Looking at the specs, your ST2000 runs a 20x6 a few hundred revs slower than the laser 180 i would always recommend for a model like this so im not surprised the performance is quite satisfactory. 

 

The Hawk and Tiger together make a handsome pair. 

[Alan Hilton]

The 30% Toni Clark Tiger I used to own flew just right on a Zenoah 38 turning a 22 x 6 prop 

[Manish Chandrayan]

I wanted to press the buy button for the Phoenix Tiger Moth ARF that the local retailer had. But every time I went to the site, the hideous undercarriage and fin rendition by Phoenix  put me off the purchase. I could live with other errors but these two areas were glaring.  If only they had it closer to the Hangar 9 version it would have been a no brainer .

 

Your Hawk and Tiger together look bright and cheery in the sunshine. Hope you get many hours of enjoyment flying them   

[Chris Freeman 3]

Thanks Manish, The Tiger is very nice to fly and looks good in the air with the bigger wheels and modified undercarriage. I once read an article that said the shape of the Tiger Moth rudders varied a lot as the covering distorted them. It does not change the fact that too many ribs were used in the Phoenix kit.  

[Geoff S]

3 hours ago, Manish Chandrayan said:

I wanted to press the buy button for the Phoenix Tiger Moth ARF that the local retailer had. But every time I went to the site, the hideous undercarriage and fin rendition by Phoenix  put me off the purchase. I could live with other errors but these two areas were glaring.  If only they had it closer to the Hangar 9 version it would have been a no brainer .

 

Your Hawk and Tiger together look bright and cheery in the sunshine. Hope you get many hours of enjoyment flying them   

 

I had a look at them and I agree the undercarriage is a disaster!  Wouldn't be too hard to make a more scale-like version, though. If you want a Tiggie about that size then have a look at the DBS&S 58" one.  Not too difficult to build and they fly well. You can then add as much scale detail as you wish.  Mine's electric on a 4S LiPo and is a pussycat - IIRC, it's not flown since the pandemic 🙂

[Manish Chandrayan]

1 hour ago, Chris Freeman 3 said:

Thanks Manish, The Tiger is very nice to fly and looks good in the air with the bigger wheels and modified undercarriage. I once read an article that said the shape of the Tiger Moth rudders varied a lot as the covering distorted them. It does not change the fact that too many ribs were used in the Phoenix kit.  

Yes, those rudder ribs. While the original (on the model) Filaria afflicted undercarriage can be modified to some extent the mounting location will still be all wrong. But then I think I am being a scale purist 

 

[Manish Chandrayan]

24 minutes ago, Geoff S said:

 

I had a look at them and I agree the undercarriage is a disaster!  Wouldn't be too hard to make a more scale-like version, though. If you want a Tiggie about that size then have a look at the DBS&S 58" one.  Not too difficult to build and they fly well. You can then add as much scale detail as you wish.  Mine's electric on a 4S LiPo and is a pussycat - IIRC, it's not flown since the pandemic 🙂

Geoff, built one from DB Sport and Scale in 2007/2008. Loosely based on D-EBKT. Still flying with a Saito 56. Had a Magnum 52 to start with. Not much scale details though. 

 

Interesting fact! The day I maidened my DB kit built EBKT,  the full size EBKT crashed in Germany a couple hours later. It has since been rebuilt and currently airworthy

 

I did scratch my scale itch when I did the quarter scale from Falcon Models (pity no longer offered) and added all the bells and whistles. Currently needing some repairs due to a mishap during takeoff that was ocassioned when another flyer did not clear the runway in time and my observer was engrossed elsewhere. 

Edited January 8 by Manish Chandrayan

[PeterF]

13 minutes ago, Manish Chandrayan said:

I did scratch my scale itch when I did the quarter scale from Falcon Models (pity no longer offered) and added all the bells and whistles. Currently needing some repairs due to a mishap during takeoff that was ocassioned when another flyer did not clear the runway in time and my observer was engrossed elsewhere. 

Noooooooooo.

 

Hope you get it sorted, it is too good to leave in the repair shop.

[Manish Chandrayan]

5 minutes ago, PeterF said:

Noooooooooo.

 

Hope you get it sorted, it is too good to leave in the repair shop.

Unfortunate! but true Peter. Thankfully other than my pride and the joy (model) nothing else was hurt. 

Luckily have a new set of Falcon undercarriage that will help. Plus looks like some broken ribs in right lower wing root. Actual damage can only be assessed once I open up the covering. 

[Chris Freeman 3]

I have a Flair and a Traplet/ Sarik semi kit for the Tiger Moth stored as part of my pension plan which is around 3 1/2 years away. My planning means that I am going to have to have a long and productive retirement to build all the kits I have obtained.  

[Manish Chandrayan]

2 hours ago, Chris Freeman 3 said:

I have a Flair and a Traplet/ Sarik semi kit for the Tiger Moth stored as part of my pension plan which is around 3 1/2 years away. My planning means that I am going to have to have a long and productive retirement to build all the kits I have obtained.  

More power to your elbow Chris👍